The Weeknd picks up five trophies at the 2016 Juno Awards

April 04, 2016

Toronto's
The Weeknd is the reigning king of Canadian music after scooping up five trophies, including Album of the Year for his hit record Beauty Behind the Madness, at the 2016 Juno Awards. The overwhelmed singer thanked his mom for "putting up with all my bull for so long" and of course his fans, “I wouldn’t be here without you!” he declared. The singer accepted three of his awards at a special gala reception on Saturday night prior to Sunday's bash.

It's already been quite a year for the 26-year-old, who captured two awards at the GRAMMYs in February and scored his first Oscar nomination for his song "Earned It" off the
Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack.

Calgary's Saddledome was ablaze with Canada's best musical talents, including
Alessia Cara who snagged her first ever Juno. When the 19-year-old singer took the stage to accept her Breakthrough Artist award, she admitted, "I’ve never made an acceptance speech before so this is going to be horrible.” Backstage the singer was still in disbelief, telling reporters, "It’s insane. It really doesn’t feel like it’s real. I was just telling my mom it really doesn’t feel like it’s happening."

Other notable winners include Drake (Rap Recording of the Year), Justin Bieber (Fan Choice and Pop Album of the Year) and Walk Off the Earth (Group of the Year). While Drake and Justin were unable to attend the show, the latter did send a short acceptance speech via video.

The night's excitement started on the red carpet where stars strutted their stuff for photographers. Amongst the A-listers were
Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger, who continued to keep everyone guessing about their relationship by walking the red carpet together.